A new beginning
by valnarian
Summary: A slightly different story of Shepard. Beginning at the firing of the Crucible and hopefully continuing after that. FemShep/Liara


Chapter 1

She was immense. Her mind consisted of everything and everyone. She could feel each life struggling against the inexorable darkness that threatened her galaxy. It was Her galaxy now; she had become something … more. She was more than a human, more than a soldier fighting with everything she had against extinction. She was more than a figurehead for the assembled might of the galaxy to rally behind. She was Everything.

Kira didn't know when her perception had changed, she remembered dragging her dying body to the console to open the Citadel, and then all went dark. She thought she was dead, that was until she felt the bright sparks of life being snuffed out like candles in a gale. She felt their death cries, she felt their dreams being smashed, their hopes, their fears, their everything being extinguished.

She could feel Them too. Their malevolence tore at her new mind, their refusal to let life blossom. She could feel their hubristic conceit. They believed themselves to be Divine, the pinnacle of evolution. With her new mind she saw them for what they were. They were a lie, they were the faulty creations of an obsolete program that was created through evil and rendered insane the moment it was activated.

She felt the very essence of life swirling through the Galaxy. She could see the corrupted eddies that marked what They had done. The sun that burnt too bright, the devices that hummed with energy that they were never meant to sustain. She could feel the energy of the galaxy moving through her, caressing her mind. She knew what needed to be done without even realizing it.

The weapon they had labored so desperately on would access that energy; it would channel it through the very fabric of existence and annihilate Them. Kira could feel the Dark Energy of the galaxy being drawn to the Crucible, being drawn to Her. Realisation hit her suddenly, she knew where she was, she knew what she was, what she had always been. She was the Catalyst. She was the agent of change needed to activate the Crucible. Her energy was integral to the device for it to become a weapon.

No, the device wasn't a weapon. It was an amplifier. An amplifier of colossal proportions designed for one purpose. It would channel Her Will throughout the galaxy. Her energy, she was the weapon and the Crucible was her voice of vengeance.

Kira drew her awareness back to the device before her. She was inside the Crucible, her mind linked into its systems. Without even knowing how she had accessed the core of the Crucible and began channeling her wrath into its heart.

The energy required was agonizing, yet she focused her mind on her destiny. She would become the weapon the galaxy needed. She was the weapon the galaxy needed. In a corner of her infinite mind she felt the cancerous attention of Harbinger. The First One had swung its malevolent intent upon her. She could feel his beams stinging her flesh as it raked the device with death. Her intangible self wept as ship after ship sacrificed itself for her.

A scream of pure unadulterated rage tore itself from her intangible throat. She diverted her awareness towards Harbinger and gave voice to her hate. In a tone that spoke of immense power, rivalling even its own Kira spat at the First One "Harbinger, I am the vanguard of your destruction". A blazing star of energy burst into existence in the heart of the Crucible as she channeled her hate through the device. She sent out Her Will as a pulse through local space eviscerating Reaper ships in wave after wave of purifying anger. Her mind directed the pulsing energy through the relays, repeating the wave in every system she could link to.

Awareness returned. She could hear screams in her ears not those of terror, but of elation. Her mind was full of cries of joy, bright sparks burnt even fiercer now that They were gone. Yet she felt diminished somehow. She could no longer feel everything, her mind was no longer infinite, and it was different again. She was a human, wasn't she? Now she was no longer sure. She could hear voices in her mind, voices full of innocent wonder as they examined her consciousness. They felt familiar, yet she felt different to them, as if they were children at the feet of an adult. Without even knowing how she wrapped her mind around theirs, comforting, giving support. In return they reached out to her, a thousand thousand voices greeted her as one. For a brief few seconds it was overwhelming, until he spoke "Shepard - Commander. Welcome".


End file.
